City Island boat yards

[Rob Hazard]

Question:
Has WoodenBoat ever done an article on the boatbuilding yards of City Island, New York? If so, then I somehow managed to mss it.

[Garret]

Not that I'm aware of.

I remember going to Ratsey & Laphorne sailmakers there as a kid. Since this was the 60's there were still a lot of boatbuilding & ancillary business there.

Last year I went sailing with a friend out of a wonderfully funky old boatyard: wood, metal, FG power & sail - all in various states of (dis)repair. Seemed like my kinda place. This year I went again & the boat was in a fancier place. I asked how come & was told that the owners of the yard pulled one too many sleazy moves & just about all the boats at their docks moved out. What happened to him was that he had the yard put in 2 new 8D batteries. 2nd day down at the boat (week after the install) it wouldn't start. He mentioned it to another boatowner there who was visiting while he was checking the batteries & the other guy said "Wait a minute! Those look just like my old batteries that I had replaced last month". Sure enough they were 9 YO batteries that had been cleaned up. The yard's excuse was "That's what our supplier sent us." Took threatening them with court to get his money back - which he used to buy & install them himself.

City Island is quite a place.

[StevenBauer]

Maritime Life and Traditions Magazine had an article about the Nevins yard on City Island. Issue #31. You can order a digital copy from WoodenBoat for 6 bucks. https://www.woodenboatstore.com/prod...sue-31-digital

[nedL]

There used to be such amazing yards there! Not a one remains today, all condos & town houses. I drop an anchor for the night around there each summer on my way to and back from New Jersey.

[Rob Hazard]

Thanks, Steven, for the Maritime Life connection. I've been vaguely aware that at one time City Island was quite a center for yacht construction beyond just the Nevins yard. I"ve seen passing mention of some workers from the Herreshoff plant who moved down that way when HMC closed down. In the recent article in WB on C D Mower there was a note that he had his own Snow Bird frostbite dinghy built at Kretzer Boat Works on City Island. I'd never heard of Kretzer, and that's what got me to wondering if WB had ever done a piece on the boatbuilding world that once existed there.

[johngsandusky]

Consolidated and Kretzer (I think) were still in business when I was a CG boat coxswain in the Western Sound, 1983-85. Maybe others too. They were mostly catering to glass boats as full service yards. I do remember a couple of wooden motor yachts there. I didn't take pictures or notes.

[Garret]

A little info:

https://www.cityislandmuseum.org/cop...ecollections-1

If you have a NY Times subscription - a 1937 article: https://www.nytimes.com/1937/01/10/a...kers-wins.html